Notes: This show included the first performance of Sample. Antelope contained a Simpsons signal. Weekapaug contained a tease of The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday and near the end included Push th' Little Daisies (Ween) quotes. Hood contained a Random Note signal and a Lengthwise tease. Amazing Grace was performed without microphones.

First and only time at this venue, second show of the tour and I wish I had better things to say about it. The recording takes a little while to get settled in, but is otherwise standard for this time period.

The first set cuts in on a pretty good Axilla although the recording is awful at first, the taper and Paul settle in nicely. Foam also has some leveling going on and is loosely played in the middle section. Bouncing should be standard, but had a bad ending from Trey. Maze is well played and has nice solos. Fast Enough is good, as is a pretty tight ATR. Stash has a really nice jam in it. This is definitely one of the highlights tonight. Lizards is good. Ah! The first Sample comes out strong, except limited harmonies from Page and Fish missed the count in the bridge hold. Right into a solid Glide. Antelope makes for a nice closer, but is loosely played the middle making it sound a little off to me.

Good Chalkdust to open the second set. The second Wedge in as many shows is better than the first. I still can't get over how different it was. Nice soloing from Page. Mike's was just ok, with a lot of uncertainty about how and where the jam was going. TMWSIY was pretty good at both ends of an average Avenu. There is some rust showing here too. Weekapaug was rocking and very dynamic with another uncertain ending tonight. They are just not locking in. Lawn Boy was sloppy on Mike's end and a little on Trey's. Pen was also a little off at times including the drums at the beginning. The Ball Jam also has an uncertain ending. Fish even messes up the lyrics to Lengthwise? But it does have a nice reggae swing to it! Hood is sloppy but has a decent ending. Cavern is also sloppy. Not sure what happened but, this show went off in the wrong direction on all the endings of the songs. Definitely below average playing tonight.

The new Amazing Grace brings the usual shushing of the crowd and is less than stellar with their intonation. An ok GTBT finishes off a rough night in Providence.

My second show.They flubbed the big build up>drop back in ('...seem all wrrrooooonnnggg') during Sample.The Lengthwise was the best I've ever heard.I remember thinking how awesome it was that a band would sing a song like Lengthwise.How it just repeats the same words over and over but with different inflections giving alternate meanings to each passing phrase.I also remember that the light show was minimal and there were those Minkin brushstroke back drops.Even though I enjoy the lights these days it was nice when it was just the band and the music as the show.This was an awesome show and it was the final hook that reeled me in for life.

February 4th, 1993
Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence RI
First Set: ~75 minutes
Second Set: ~81 minutes
I did not attend this show

The first set of this show features solid renditions of setlist staples such as “Foam”, “Axilla”, and “The Lizards”, as well as the debut of the oft-played “Sample in a Jar.” The band clearly had not perfected it yet, for there’s a pretty major flub during the buildup. Trey laughs it off however, and it doesn’t hurt the flow of the set. “Maze” and “Stash” both make appearances here, both of which can lead to some impressive improvisational highlights, but the versions played here are fairly standard. It’s a fun set with no major hiccups or poor song choices, but not one that I am likely to revisit in the future.

Set 2 kicks off with the high energy “Chalk Dust Torture” before moving into the first surprise of the night, an unusually played “The Wedge.” As the second ever performance of the song, the band is clearly still figuring out what they can do with the song. The result is a slightly jammed out ending to the song that is far different from the fairly composed version of the song that is played today. Definitely worth checking out for fans of the song!

The meat of the second set comes in the form of a Mike’s Groove with a TMWSIY sandwich. The somewhat rare middle segment is always a joy to hear, and the Weekapaug Groove features some very strong improvising from Trey. After breezing through a few “breathers” and the always-silly HYHU segment, the band band provides one more flash of excellence in a well-played Harry Hood before wrapping up the set with “Cavern”.

This is a fun show with a fun Mike’s Groove, unusual “Wedge”, and all around solid playing from all members of the band. Not an essential listen, but you won’t be disappointed either.

**This is my second of (hopefully) 71 reviews as I listen to the entire winter/spring '93 tour.**

Overall this show is more or less (mostly less, really) on-par with last night's show. I'd maybe rate it a bit lower because there are a couple significant flubs, there's no big centerpiece jam like last night's YEM > Lifeboy, and it doesn't feel super homogenous. Individually, most songs are played well, but they don't fit together to make a spectacular whole. You know how some sets really come together despite no particularly outstanding tracks? These sets don't really have that.

Not all is lost, though. The highlights of set uno include a Stash that briefly gets freaky, Fast Enough For You because it's Fast Enough For You (what a great song, that's all I've got to say), and a really raging Antelope closer. This 'Lope is good. Page gets to shine for a while and it peaks well. The debut of Sample In A Jar is marred by a big flub late in the tune. But we'll let it slide since it's surrounded by solid renditions of The Lizards and Glide.

Slot dos of set dos boasts the dos performance of The Wedge. This early arrangement of The Wedge doesn't completely work. Some of the transitions are weird and it never really gels because of it. The skeleton of a fun song is there but it needs a little more work. I'll hazard that the band felt similarly considering it was soon shelved to only reappear once it found itself some new skin in '95. TMWSIY > Avenu Malkenu > TMWSIY as the meat of Mike's Groove is refreshing. Those song pairings work nicely together. Despite Roses Are Free debuting nearly five years later, the Push th' Little Daisies quotes at the end of this Weekapaug show they were Ween fans far before 12.11.97. It's funny to think that at this point none of them had even heard Roses (it would be released as part of the album Chocolate and Cheese in '94) yet it's the song that made it into their repertoire. Now, I'm no expert on the song, but this is probably the best Lengthwise ever. It includes full band accompaniment behind Fish. Harry Hood is a little messy, but the jam builds nicely.

I wouldn't feel too bad about skipping this show if you haven't heard it. None if it is bad, per se, but when taken as a whole, there's not much you're missing. There are many better constructed shows out there. Last night's for example. If you're looking for the single song highlight, check out the Antelope.

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